Si r i EMBER 9, 1922 



NA TURE 



Physiography of the Coal Swamps. 



The purport ol the presidential address delivered bj 

 Prof. P. F. Kendall to Section (' (Geology) was to show 

 dial coal seams are the result of growth and accumula- 

 tions "I peai. 111 titu, and thai all the phenomena of the 

 British coal-measures can be explained upon this 

 hypothesis, with the necessary implication of great 

 deltaic swamps. 



The English coal measures consist of fresh- water 

 muds and sands with occasional intercalations of 

 marine sediments of relatively small amount. This 

 theory is in lull accord with what is known ol modern 

 swamps and deltas. Two types of sandstones occur ; 

 one, having the form and arrangement of deltaic sand- 

 hanks, is often of wide extent, the other taking the 

 form of meandering river channels which may cut out 

 an entire seam, producing a " wash out." One such 

 example, in which 90 it. of normal measures and large 

 areas of coal are replaced, was mentioned. 



The splitting of coal-seams is attributed in some 

 cases lo contemporary river-erosion, and in others to 

 local sags, drowning tin vegetation and interrupting 

 I'oal growth. Effects ol contemporary earthquakes 

 are recognisable in many seams and districts. They 

 lake the form of " lurched " margins ol washouts, 

 casts ol sand-fountains, sandstone d\ kes, " sw allies," or 

 trough-like inflexions ol ..cam., and contemporary 

 fault affecting lower and not upper seams. All these 

 effects are of earlier dale than the ordinary faulting 

 of the strata. 



In discussing the various types of material which 

 constitute coal-seams, stress was laid on the distinction 

 between coal and cannel. The explanation of " coal 

 halls " proposed li\ Slopes and Watson is accepted 

 with the corollary that the constituent plants must, 



in some cases, ha\ e gl OVt 11 111 .all water. 



In conclusion at leu lion is directed lo the phenomenon 

 of cleat, that is, the system ol jointing in coal, the one 

 coal measure phenomena for which (here is no ohvioits 

 modern parallel. Observation ol its direction all over 

 the world and in deposits ol all ages, from Carboniferous 

 to Pleistocene, shows an overwhelming preponderance 

 of N.W.-S.E. in tie- northern hemisphere ami N. !■',.- 

 SAW in the southern. This seems to he in some way 

 related to the earth's planetary role, but data are not 

 yet sufficientl) complete to justify the formulation of 

 a theory. Every morsel of coal, even a single lea) oi 

 cordaites ,,',,, " 1 an inch in thickness, exhibits a regular 

 cleat in the specified direction. The absence of cleat 

 in anthracite is held to explain the low ash percentage. 

 Jointing, comparable to cleat and agreeing in direction, 

 occurs in some limestones. 



The Progression of Life in the Si \. 



Ix his address to Section I* (Zoologj ) the president, 

 Dr. !•'.. J. Allen, first discussed the theory that life in 

 the world had its origin in the sea, referring to ret cut 

 work by Baly on the formation of formaldehyde and 

 sugars by the action ot light ot short wave length on 



carbonic acid and water, and lo the views expressed l>\ 



Church on the building up of an autotrophic flagellate 



from the ions present in ;ea water. An nt was 



given of work on the culture of marine diatoms, showing 

 the necessity for the pi e oi traces of organic 



NO. 2758, VOL. I 10] 



matter before healthy growth of plant life took place. 



The passage from plant to 1 nal nutrition 



illustrated by the chrysomonad Pedinella. A similar 

 change in nutrition was described amongst the Dino- 

 flagellates. The line ot progression from the flagellates 

 to the metazoa probably proceeded through the 

 uli nterates, w hich represent tin' highest stage attained 

 by the primary plankton or free iwimming animal 

 further development took place when the hit 1 vi 

 established a connexion with the sea bottom. Main 

 of the bottom-living animals subsequently again 

 adopted (he free-swimming habit, and gave rise to tin- 

 various groups ol animals found in the plankton lo da\ . 



fishes were probabl) evolved m livers, and developed 



their swimming powers to resist the action oi 1 he current. 



The conditions controlling the production oi organic 



lood material in the sea were discussed and some 



: unt given of the 1 [-chain from the diatom 



.old peridinian to the fish. Recent work by Hjort 

 and Drummond was described, on the production oi 

 vitamin by marine plankton diatoms, and the passagi 

 of this growth stimulant through theii lood into the 

 bodies of fishes, where it is found in the oil ol the livei 

 and subsequently in the ovary. In conclusion it was 

 urged that foi the solution ol problems dealing with 



practical fisheries the life ol the sea must be studied 

 as a whole. 



Ill M v. I o n.r \rn\ 



Dr. Marion Newbigin's address to Section E 



(Geography) was on "Human Geography: First 

 Principles and Some Applications." Geographers are 

 agreed thai there is a definite human geography, 

 but little attention has been given to the problem .1 

 to the precise way in which man's response lo environ- 

 mental conditions differs from that of animals. Since 

 man once ran into a number of species or even of 



genera ii is ob\ tons that (here was oni e a tune when 



there was no distinctively human response, when 

 adaplation led to specific differentiation, just as it 

 doc, among animals. Hut since all living men now 

 belong lo one spcies. il is clear that this time has 

 passed. Its passing appeal ■ to be associated with the 

 fact that growing intelligence meant that the barriers 

 to distribution which limit tin- movements of animals 

 cea id to function. This in its turn might have meant 

 that human evolution stopped, that man ceased to 

 be adapted to any particular habitat becau e fitted 

 for all, were it not that the factors of fixation and 

 isolation, so important in the case oi the lower organ- 

 ism i, began to acl in a new way. With the growth of 



cultivation, 1 omi 11 ie . bee nine Ii \ed to partii lll.tr 



.11 1.1 and if the isi >la1 ion wa ufficient to ensure t he 

 necessarj continuity and protection during the earl} 

 stages, a communal as distinct from an individual 

 adaptation appeared. The second pari oi the address 

 dealt with applications of these general principles to 

 the chiei foci 0) civilisation in Europe and the adjai enl 

 lands. Thus the causes which promoted the origin, 

 growth, and deca\ or modification of the succi ive 

 cultures oi the great river valle) i,oi the Mediterranean 

 seaboard, and of the forest bell oi Western Europe 

 were considered, and the pei uliar difficulties encountered 

 in establishing stable communities in the steppe land- 

 of Eastern Europe discussed briefly. 



